Friday, February 24, 2017

I have terrific news to share: our Tudor is under contract! Yay! Asolid offer, from a lovely young family, came in a day before the scheduled open houses, and we accepted it. Tom and I along with our wonderful agent, Mary Lynn White, all decided to cancel both open houses. I apologize if that caused an inconvenience or disappointment to anyone.

Many thanks to those that left good wishes - I received your comments, emails plusmessages with much gratitude. I'll keep you posted on our move.

In the meantime, let's revisit a serene and sophisticated home that I decorated and recently refreshed. It belongs to Susan and Greg, special friends and longtime clients. I had the pleasure of featuring this project back in 2012. Take a look here - go ahead.

Now compare that to today:

Gone are those bright gold silk curtains (which were installed by the previous owner, and conveyed with the house). Per my advice, Susan replaced them with cream linen panels that complement the quiet beauty of the palette ofwarm neutrals accented by Swedish blues and grays.

Speaking of Swedish, there are a number offurnishings from my shop throughout this home. But I didn't want the decor to scream antique Swedish showroom, soI layered in plenty of upholstered seating for comfort, English and French furnishings for variety, and one-of-a-kind accessories for originality.

Many of the pieces I actually repurposed from early
architectural elements. The iron grate in the coffee table that's in
front of a Swedish settee came from a Parisian balcony. The zinc fragment on the mantel was once part of a door lintel; it's the latest Tone on Tone acquisition that inspired my restyling of the mantelscape.

Here is the new mantelscape incorporating my zinc fragment plus sentimental items including family silver and the sublime drawings of acclaimed artist and dear friend Jill Bateman. Jill is also a good friend and client of mine. I'm grateful to her for bringing Susan and me together. BTW, the dramaticseaside painting (shown in fourth photo from top) is another work by Jill.

Let's take a quick peek into the dining room where two more items were repurposed from architectural elements. I found both the zinc window dormer, known as oeil-de-boeuf, and wrought iron balcony guard in Paris. Together they make a striking statement as well as a fun topic of conversation. And how cool to have the zinc pieces in the living and dining rooms speak to each other.

In addition to the beautiful art, Susan is a passionate collector of mercury glass and ironstone china. Here is part of hercollection catching the morning light in one corner of the living room. The French cabinet and mirror are from Tone on Tone.

Thanks very much to Susan and Greg for inviting us back into their elegant home. I love the updates!xoxoLoiPS - For more, please follow along on my INSTAGRAM.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

I'm proud to say that our Tudor went on the market today. After working on it for a year, Tom and I are thrilled with how everything turned out.

To recap, we purchased it in early 2016, and spent most of last year renovating.Here's what we did: gutted a bathroom, updated a powder room, finished the third floor, upgraded to a new two-zoned AC system, insulated the roof, replaced the asphalt roof tiles with Vermont slate, installed custom built-in bookcases and plantation shutters, added ceiling beams, painted walls, refinished floors, etc. This was going to be home for a long time, soeverythinghad to meet our standards. There was even a plan to convert the side porch to an enclosed sunroom for my topiaries.

Then our dream cottage, which we stalked for years, became available in December. It's the same size as our Tudor, in the same neighborhood, and built around the same time (late 1920s). The biggest difference is the lot. The cottage is another small home, but on a large lot with fabulous garden potential. And it needs updating so we just couldn't say no to another project 🔨🏡!!

Tom and I are selling the Tudor not because we don't love it, but because we found another home that we love even more. BTW, the cottage will be house number six for us (in the last 20 years)!

Helping us with this sale is good friend and expert realtor Mary Lynn White. This is the fourth house that we've entrusted to Mary Lynn and her team. Regardless of size and price, they treat each of our homes with the same level of attention, professionalism and passion. Tom and I couldn't imagine buying or selling without Mary Lynn.

There will be open houses on Saturday (18th) as well as Sunday (19th). Please contact Mary Lynnhere for info.And please helpspread the word. Thanks very much! UPDATE: THE OPEN HOUSES ARECANCELED AS WE ARE UNDER CONTRACT. SORRY FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE.

Please come inside! The entry foyer is small but so sunny thanks to two windows along the staircase. There is also a deep coat closet. Speaking of staircase, I had the beautiful wool runner custom made; it continues to the upstairs hall.

A view of the dining room and kitchen from the foyer. I designed the arched doorway to repeat the arched front door. In the dining room, Tom and I installed, with the help of carpenters, pine ceiling beams after personally distressing and staining them ourselves. We spent many hours figuring out proportions and placements. They ended up being beautifully centered over the windows, fireplace and doorway to the living room; it took much effort to get everything to line up.

Also, I designed the wall of built-in bookcases to house my art books and creamware china. Now the room feels like a library as well as a dining room. It's a pleasure to dine, casually and formally, surrounded by treasured books.

I love designing built-ins, and have done so in every home we've owned. Tip: when adding built-ins, try to incorporate existing moldings such as crown, casing and baseboard to make them look original to the house.

Let's move into the living room with its lovely bay windows that bring in abundant light all day. Actually this used to be the dining room. I knew it would make a bright, warm and comfortable sitting room with its southern exposure and views to the garden. It's cozy and private. French doors can be closed for even more privacy.

Since there isn't a family room, our TV is here inside the Swedish armoire. In the evening, you'll find us on the down-filled George Smith sofa watching favorite shows like The Crown and The Great British Baking Show.

We'll occasionally pry ourselves out of the sofa to come into the kitchen for a cup of tea. Honed soapstone countertops and crisp white Shaker cabinets give the kitchen a timelessness. There is radiant heating under the painted linoleum floor.

Two of the four bedrooms upstairs. All bedrooms on the secondfloor have new plantation shutters. They also have their original paneled doors with glass doorknobs and brass plates.

Two bedrooms share a charming Jack-and-Jill bathroom updated in a vintage style.

A completely renovated bathroom with marble hexagonal floor.

For more info, please email Mary Lynn. Don't forget to spread the word. Many thanks! UPDATE: THE OPEN HOUSES ARE CANCELED AS WE ARE UNDER CONTRACT. MANY APOLOGIES.